A Testament of True Love
by nattylovesjordy
Summary: Sarah opens up about her past and it brings nothing but good, fluffy stuff for you to read! Major Chuck/Sarah. "Longshot."


_**Disclaimer:** I don't own Chuck.  
Oh, and thanks to Kayla for the support and essentially Bill for the basis of the idea for this! Whoot! Oh, and __please__ review! It makes the hours (around... 7 hours. Seriously) that it took to write it mean something! And it makes writing it worth it!_

* * *

**A Testament of True Love**

"Look, Chuck," Sarah begun. "You can't just come gallivanting into rapid gunfire."

Surprise there. On today's mission, Chuck heard gunshots from his designated spot in the car and came rushing in search of Sarah. Fortunately, Casey saw Chuck coming in and quickly shot the last of the firing agents. Not long after, Sarah was found and Chuck was assured that she was fine. And, of course, this wasn't the first time this had been happened. Chuck had been doing this quite a bit recently, which was putting a strain--emotional and physical--on the blond female agent.

Chuck noticed this as the beginning to her agent speech about how he needs to follow orders. Nodding his head in response, he allowed Sarah to keep lecturing.

"Our job as your handlers is to keep you safe, but you're making it really hard; much harder than need be." Suddenly, Sarah's hard emotional outer-shell cracked and a bit of her warmth and compassion shone through like rays of sunshine through cracks in the blinds.

Before he knew it, Sarah was wrapping him up in a hug. Chuck recuperated the gesture. It was a bit awkward at first, but after a few moments, the level of emotion and genuine care were even from both parties.

"I just want you to stay safe." Sarah stayed in his arms, but lifted her head from his comfortable chest and looked him in the eyes. Chuck could see the weakness and slight insecurity and worry in her eyes. "I don't know what I'd do if anything bad happened to you."

Neither of them moved, comfortable with where they were. In fact, they didn't move out of the embrace until Ellie walked into the room. By this point, which had been quite a while after they initially arrived, Chuck was slow-dancing with Sarah, slowly stepping in a circle, to no music.

"Chuck are-" Ellie said as she opened the door. "Oh! Sarah, hi. It's so nice to see you!"

"Yeah," Sarah replied as she extracted herself out of his warm arms. The change in warmth made her shiver. "It is!"

Ellie noticed her small shiver. "Are you cold? Chuck, why don't you get her a sweater." Ellie turned back from Chuck to Sarah. "Come, why don't we go have some coffee. I just made some cinnamon bread."

* * *

After Chuck and Sarah bonded with Ellie, they retreated to his room where Sarah formulated a plan.

Taking his hand, she led him out the window into the dark, warm night. From there they proceeded to go to Sarah's Porsche where they drove to the beach without exchanging a single word.

Silently, they walked hand in hand to their spot on the beach. Equally as silent, they sat on the sand, close to each other, still joined by the hand.

"Why don't we make a deal." Sarah asked, not waiting for an answer. "You obey the orders me and Casey give you, and I'll exchange it for something."

"Like what?"

Sarah hadn't exactly thought about that detail, so she ended up saying something regretful. "I'll tell you something real about me." If she wasn't trained as an agent, her hand would've flown over her mouth and eyes to cover the shock of what _she just said_.

Chuck was equally as surprised but didn't have to think twice about his answer. "Deal." he replied, saying it excitedly but professionally. Making it official, the two took their free hands and shook on it.

From that moment on, Sarah knew she was in trouble.

* * *

Sarah didn't have long before she had to figure out what to tell Chuck. She figured there were small insignificant things like who her favorite teacher was or the name of her second dog, but once those small things ran out, the topic choices begun thinning.

It started with a non-life threatening mission. Sarah and Casey were ordered to bring Chuck to a party to see if he flashed on any bad guys. No biggie, they'd done it multiple times before. But soon, the easy, see if he flashes mission changed into some physical fighting between the two agents and a large group of men. Chuck found himself in the middle of this fighting, focusing on ducking incoming feet and fists.

"Chuck! Go to the van!" Sarah yelled as she knocked a guy down with one hell of a sweep kick. Chuck continued to watch on as another man came up behind her and she, sensing his presence, elbowed him in the gut and did yet another sweep kick. "Chuck!" She yelled again. "GO!"

Chuck struggled with obeying her order, but when the reminder of getting to know something real about her popped into his head, he ran out the door, but not before looking back to see her giving a bad guy one nasty right hook.

In the end, the trio escaped and acquired enough information from the Intersect about the group of men. After they all returned to the Buy More for the briefing with the superiors, Sarah took Chuck to the beach for his reward.

Chuck didn't say anything, instead he just waited for her to start and he was willing to give her her needed time.

"My favorite teacher was my tenth-grade history teacher Mr. Raskin. He was really nice, but made fun of everyone and everything. Every morning, me and my friends would sit in his classroom and talk with him or make him listen to us stress out. He had this noodle and he'd hit everyone with it. I will never forget all the good times we had in classroom or how funny of a guy he was."

It wasn't much, her admission, but it was enough to warm Chuck's heart. He knew something real, and that was all he had ever wanted.

Even though it was initially hard for him to get out of the room as Sarah and Casey were battling the men, it payed off, and more than just staying safe and learning something real about Sarah; Sarah actually opened up to him. She may have not realized it when she made the deal, but her telling him all this real stuff about her was furthering Chuck on the path into her guarded heart.

* * *

This time, Chuck was on surveillance duty, much like the time at the Chinese restaurant, except he was doing better--much better. He hadn't ordered any sizzling shrimp and hadn't helped any old, innocent looking, evil guys in wheelchairs in escaping.

But that's probably because he didn't have the option to do so. This time, he was doing surveillance on the screens in the van on a large construction company of all things. It was once again at night and Sarah and Casey were sneaking around the company's buildings attempting to find files that gave them proof of the company's ulterior motives.

When he first got word of his role in the mission, Chuck thought it was pointless for him to be there, but as the mission actually progressed, he saw that his position was important. As the two agents were rummaging through some file cabinets, Chuck spotted an oddly large group of suits walking into the building.

"Uh, Sarah? Casey?" Chuck started as he talked into the headset. "There's a large group of men walking into the building heading up to the offices."

All that came back was static. Something was wrong and it left Chuck with an unsettling feeling. He kept his eyes glued to the security screens as tried to fix the connection. "Sarah? Casey? Can you hear me?"

On their sides of the reception, all they were hearing was static as well and didn't have time to hear the warning before the men came in. Both parties--the suits and the agents-- were shocked. Quickly, they drew their guns and aimed them at each other, but Sarah and Casey were out-armed. The two agents counted the group and noticed there were 9 of them. They knew they could take them, it was all just a matter of how.

Quite ungracefully, Chuck stumbled into the room, making his way to the other side of the room where the two agents were. "Sarah! I tried to warn you! There's a group of-" Chuck's head was pushed by Casey to the other side of the room where the group of men were standing. "Oh."

"Chuck," Sarah whispered, trying not to move her mouth. "When I signal you, I want you to lock yourself into that closet and cover yourself with as much stuff as possible. Casey and I will deal with the men. Understood?"

"Mmhmm." He replied, equally as sneaky.

"Don't open the door for anyone but me." She said before the group of men started talking.

"Why are you here?" The tallest man asked. Casey thought it was ridiculous that they were asking questions. He wanted to shoot, not stand and chat. Knowing Casey's want, Sarah shared a side look with Casey and nodded their heads ever so slightly.

In the snap of a finger, Sarah pushed Chuck to the ground and the two agents begun shooting from behind a desk.

"Go. Now." Sarah ordered as she pushed Chuck to the way of the closet. Awkwardly, Chuck scurried to the closet on his hands and knees, obeying Sarah against his will, reminding himself that the outcome would be worth it.

He sat in the closet, worried for Sarah's safety, for what seemed an eternity until he heard the three distinctive knocks on the closet door. Knowing that it was Sarah, he untangled himself and his long legs from the various coats and vacuum cleaners and opened the door.

"Lets go, Chuck." Sarah demanded as she grabbed his hand and pulled him from the ground. They ran out of the building in a hurry and sped away in the van.

"What's going on? Where's Casey?" Chuck asked, shaking from everything happening so fast.

Still in agent-mode, Sarah replied with a rough voice. "Casey's staying behind to clean up and gather the rest of the information. We decided that it was best to get you out of there just in case."

"Just in case? What was going to happen?"

"Nothing. It was just an added precaution."

"Oh, okay." Chuck answered, followed with silence filling the van as they sped down the streets. Out of the corner of his eye, Chuck watched Sarah. He figured that Sarah knew that he was staring, but he didn't care. He couldn't help but admit that this version of Agent Sarah Walker was slightly sexy.

Sarah sighed. "I guess you obeyed an order," she said, once again not waiting for an answer from him. "Okay. Well, when I was 9, I was climbing a tree with my friend Luke. Luke was a rather wimpy boy and was afraid of falling. I, being the adventurous one of the two of us, reassured him that the branches were safe and that nothing would happen. Well, needless to say, I was wrong. I stepped onto one wrong branch and snap! Next thing I knew, Luke was sitting in the tree, scared, and I was lying on the floor unable to move.

"Someone in the park heard our cries and came over to save Luke and get me to a hospital. I broke my wrist and sprained my ankle from the impact of the fall. From that day on, I could never get Luke to climb a tree, and I never wanted to."

* * *

Over the next few months, Chuck continued to obey Sarah's orders and even Casey's. Not only did Casey notice the change, but so did the superiors. They noticed Chuck had grown to be more respectful during their teleconferences and what not.

One day, Casey even verbally commented it to Sarah. "What have you two been doing that's got him wrapped around your finger?"

"Oh, I have my ways." Sarah said, mysteriously as she looked over at Chuck on the other side of the Buy More, helping a customer.

"Well," Casey said as he begun to walk off. "Whatever it is, keep it up."

Sarah smiled, taking Casey's remark as his version of a compliment--a compliment towards Chuck for that matter.

But, as Chuck started to obey more and more, her facts started becoming thinner and thinner. She'd told him her favorite teacher, the time about the tree, what her favorite food was, that she'd always wanted to learn to surf, how she used to press flowers when she was younger, how she wanted to be a superstar... She'd told him a bunch of little things along with a few bigger things, but now she was limited to only big things.

And she was scared to tell him some of the larger facts about herself. Soon enough, though, she got over her fear and told her some life-defying events like how her first boyfriend cheated on her two weeks into their relationship. That particular reveling was hard for her, but with a squeeze from Chuck's hand and a warming smile as they lay on a blanket gazing at the stars, she was better.

On Chuck's end of the deal, he was getting to know all of these things, but the real bonus was her opening up to him. With every new thing about her, he inched closer and closer to his spot in her heart where he could win it, if he hadn't already. Every new thing, he enjoyed. When she seemed upset about it, so did he.

* * *

"When I was seven, I had this golden retriever named Pete-E. He was practically my best friend. Whenever I came home from school, he'd run up to me, jump on me and lick me all over with his big pink tongue. I loved him, even when he'd never stay in his place.

"One day, though, as I was gone at school, he got out of the back gate and ran into the street. A speeding car, that clearly didn't see him, hit him. When I came home, I saw my dead dog lying in the street, untouched. I cried for days. I've never had such an amazing dog since then."

This mission was different. Chuck wasn't watching on, he wasn't ordered to hide in any closets and he wasn't ordered to flash on anyone--instead, he and Sarah were to convince a diplomatic leader of an organization that they were followers of his campaign so they could later take it over. It was a mission planned to last a few days, rather than one night.

Sarah had commanded Chuck to do something simple--indulge in slight PDA in public--but he had still convinced her that he had done everything she had said, so that he should get to learn something new.

So, as they were in their hotel room on their one bed in their pajamas, lying under the covers, Sarah told him the story of her favorite dog. Except this story was different. With this fact, Sarah was a lot more emotional. Clearly, this dog had a lot more meaning than she said.

Chuck yearned to wrap her up in his arms and promise her a golden retriever of her dreams, but instead he stayed to his side of the bed and said that he was sorry. Which he was, it just wasn't as effective and caring as what he wanted to do would've been.

* * *

Just the next day, Sarah had to tell something new to Chuck. Once again, for some silly thing he did, but she was actually beginning to enjoy telling these things to someone. For the past six years of her life, she hadn't had anyone to share these things with--not even Bryce or another fellow agent. She had missed being able to confide in someone and share memories with someone for so long, that she had begun for forget what it was like.

And that's where Chuck came in. Chuck had reminded her how living was. In her agent-filled world, she didn't live--she merely breathed, blinked and ate. But living was a completely different experience that she probably wouldn't have ever experienced again in her lifetime without Chuck.

But that wasn't the only thing she owed Chuck for. Of course, she owed Chuck for caring for her.

Smiling, she thought back to the night when she told him about when she fell out of the tree. It may have been one of the first times she shared anything with him, but he took a step. While they were still in the van, her hands on the wheel, he grabbed her wrist and rubbed it with his thumb. Responding, she took her hand off the wheel and let him hold it, trying to rub away the physical scar and pain.

And today was a new day which meant furthering in the mission and telling him something new. But this time, Sarah had only two things left that she could tell him.

These were the two things that she couldn't get herself to say. She knew that if she admitted either and word got out, that she could be in some major trouble with the General and the Director.

But she knew that he deserved to know.

"You ready, Chuck?" Sarah asked as they settled into bed, the lights off.

"Yup." he answered, propping his head up with his elbow on the pillow, lying on his side.

Even though she thought she had partially prepared herself for saying it, she found herself at a loss for words. And really, she didn't have to say much, yet she couldn't verbalize it.

Chuck intently watched as Sarah struggled to form the words. "It's okay, Sarah. Take your time." he said as he cupped her face with his hand to make her look at him.

Finally, she moved to lying on her side from her back and looked at him in the eye, determined. "My name--my real name-- is Lisa Ann Simonson." she admitted, softly. Immediately after the submission, she closed her eyes to break the eye contact. Chuck's hand, on the other hand, remained on her cheek, stroking it with his thumb.

"Thank you, Sarah," he whispered as he begun to close the gap between the two faces. "I know that was hard for you." he said right before he gracefully put his soft lips on hers. Somehow, the situation of them sharing the bed and her telling him all these things lost it's awkwardness as she returned the kiss.

But when Chuck removed his lips from his and whispered goodnight, a hint of awkwardness returned and both were slightly hurt by his action.

At first, Sarah tried to push away that nagging feeling and to ignore the tingling feeling on her lips, but she soon failed. With her back turned to him, she let a small tear escape from her eye. She told herself that she wasn't going to let it affect her the next day, but deep down she knew that it'd happen anyways.

Chuck was mentally kicking himself for doing that. He knew that he hurt her and that he ruined it, but he too was scared and jumped back into his little safety hole. Somehow, he knew that he needed to make it up to her, and it needed to happen right then.

"Sarah?" he whispered, treading lightly in case she was asleep. He waited for a response, but never got one.

Of course Sarah heard him, but pretended to sleep, evening out her breathing.

"I'm sorry, Sarah." He said as he scooted towards her and stroked her hair. Sarah scooted closer to him so that they were spooning, and he snaked his arm around her waist. "I'm sorry." he repeated and kissed the temple of her head.

In that moment, everything seemed to be alright.

* * *

After their multiple day mission they were given a break, as long as Chuck didn't flash on anyone, that is. And, of course, to their dismay, Chuck had one of his random flashes at a Taco Bell of all places a mere three days into their seven day break. Casey had gone and made one of his typical remarks about how only Bartowski could screw something up so quickly without fail. Sarah, on the other hand, was quiet. Both Sarah and Chuck were walking lightly, taking things slow after that night at the hotel. It was an unspoken understanding they had.

Ever since that night that Chuck had held her, it had been all she had longed for and thought about. In his arms, everything felt right. His arms was the one place where she was safe from the world and didn't have to keep her guard up. She didn't have to be aware of her surroundings and could receive the love that was long overdue.

In each others arms was their own personal sanctuary where they could forget about everything going on around them and be with one another without danger and guns and covers and fear.

Even though they were skirting around the moment of her vulnerability, they still had a job to do. Unlike the other times when Sarah was cold to Chuck, she was nice, but professional.

On the inside, they both knew that the deal was still on, but Sarah was worried. She had one thing left that she could tell him, and it was going to be the hardest of them all. Knowing this, she almost hoped that he'd mess something up so she could hold it above him and not tell him. Yet, at the same time, she didn't want him hurt or anything bad.

In other words, Sarah was torn in many different aspects.

With just their luck, the trio found themselves in another sticky situation. Apparently, the guys that Chuck had flashed on were guards to people high up in Fulcrum. Through a long day's work of attempting to track them down and assembling a small team of backup, they finally found where they were hiding out; in an old, abandoned warehouse much like the ones in the movies.

When Chuck first saw the warehouse and how spooky it looked, he was pretty much scared shit-less. Seeing his fear, Sarah squeezed his hand.

"You stay here, okay?" she requested as the agents begun to silently exit the van.

"But-" he started, getting no where by Sarah cutting him off.

"If anything happens to one of us, I want you to get out of here immediately. I'll let you know through the earpiece, okay?" Before Chuck could speak, Sarah's lips crashed on his, her tongue slipping into his open mouth. It was much like the kiss at the docs, which excited yet scared Chuck even more, but there was a different emotion there--one that he hadn't experienced since the night he kissed her in the hotel.

"Sarah!?" Chuck called out as she got out of the van. He didn't want to let her go in there, but he knew he had to. "Be careful, okay?"

Sarah didn't reply, instead she looked at him and translated her answer through her eyes before she turned back around and followed the group into the warehouse.

He sat in the van, trying to calm down and not do anything rash. "She'll be fine, Chuck. She'll be fine." he repeated over and over to himself. With every time he repeated it, he got more and more anxious and scared. He couldn't believe himself and those words.

The second he heard guns go off, he bolted out of the van and ran into the warehouse. But it didn't matter; he could feel it in his stomach that something bad was going to happen and he couldn't let anything bad happen to Sarah.

"Sarah!" He called out, bringing quite an unwelcome amount of attention to himself. Magically dodging bullets, Chuck ran behind a stack of crates in search for Sarah. The sound of the gunshots rung in his ears and scared him every time, but he pushed the fear away and kept running to find her. Finally, he found her leaning up against a crate, bleeding.

"Sarah!" he gasped and rushed to her side. "Sarah, are you okay?"

"Chuck, get out of here." she responded, ignoring his question.

"No." Defiant Chuck answered. "You're coming with me."

"Chuck," Sarah warned. "Please." She was inches away from giving in after seeing his worried yet determined face.

Suddenly, the last shot was fired, and the warehouse was eerily silent.

"Come on you two." Casey said as he randomly popped up a few moments later, out of no where. "Lets get out of here." He said like it was nothing.

Hand in hand, with Casey leading the way ahead of them, Sarah and Chuck walked out of the building, Sarah limping from where the bullet hit her leg. The EMTs told her that she would be fine, it was nothing serious, and that she couldn't do any strenuous activity until it was healed. Of course, that wasn't going to stop her, but she was thankful that she didn't have to spend the night and days in a hospital.

Wordlessly, Team Chuck loaded themselves back into the van and headed back to Chuck and Casey's apartment complex. Casey informed them that he'd take care of things with the Director and General, and headed into his apartment, leaving the two at the fountain.

"I...uh..." Chuck stuttered.

"I owe you one, Chuck." Sarah admitted as she looked down at their joined hands. His fingers were tangled up in hers, keeping them warm as the sun set, taking it's warmth with it.

"No you don't. I disobeyed orders." Chuck replied, looking at their hands as well.

"Come home with me?" She asked, quietly.

Chuck pulled Sarah up from the fountain. "Of course. Anything you need." Chuck wrapped his free arm around her shoulders, allowing him to be her support as she limped to his car. Slowly, he helped lower her into the car, and quickly rounded to his side where he reclaimed her hand as he began driving the route to her apartment that he knew far too well.

"Thank you, Chuck." She whispered as she leaned into him. "For saving me."

Swiftly, he turned his head and smiled, without speaking a single word. Somehow, over the last few months of her opening up to him, something had magically changed between the two.

Being silly, Chuck carried her up to her apartment, even holding her in the elevator despite her protests. Either way, they both giggled, even though it was a completely serious gesture.

In a clumsy fashion, he opened the door and proceeded to her bedroom. Gently, he laid her down on the soft, inviting sheets and covered her with the comforter. Her protesting finally over, she yawned, becoming that girl she's always wanted to be rather than the agent that she's trapped in.

Oddly, Chuck turned to exit the room, Sarah not knowing where he was going and if he was staying. "Chuck?" she called out, barely able to make out the frame of his gorgeous body in the dim lighting.

"Yes, Sarah?" He answered as he turned back around and leaned on the door jam.

"Stay?" One simple word. One simple word that meant so much to them, but very little to others.

Chuck didn't think, instead he shut the door and slipped off his shoes. He joined her under the covers and, without her even asking, wrapped her up in his arms, providing her with a warmth that can only be provided by one you love.

"Chuck?" she murmured, the sleep coming close to taking over.

"Yes?"

"There's one more thing I need to tell you. But this one isn't because you obeyed an order; it's because you saved me." Sarah took a deep breath and brought her hand to his cheek to caress it. "I love you." she admitted, barely able to be heard.

Chuck leaned his head down and she brought hers to his, engaging in a slight, but emotion-filled kiss. "I love you too."

Nothing spectacular happened, but they did fall happily asleep in one anothers arms with smiles on their faces. Both of them knew that from this single deal, something new had begun. Neither of them had agreed to the deal so that this would happen, but they both believed with confidence that it was fate.

* * *

_For the rest of their lives together, they knew that their story had been a very different one; they had met because of a man who had hurt them both and it had all started out as one big lie, but as time went on, a friendship that was more than a friendship developed. From this friendship came problems and hurdles they had to jump, but they got through it together. With their jobs, one chosen the other unwanted, the relationship that lingered below their friendship was forbidden. Somehow, though, she had to get Chuck to push those feelings aside during missions, so they made a deal. Clearly, the deal only furthered the forbidden relationship, but it still didn't stop them. _

_When they later told their children of their own love story, leaving out a few of the details of course, it renewed the lost hope that came after a break up or a broken heart._

_ Sarah and Chuck's relationship was a testament to all of the true love out there--if they could make it through what they had to deal with, then anyone could get through it._


End file.
